Putting up this thread because I now that at least one other person (hi @hoarmurath !)here loves them and I want to share. What is Scandinavian Noir? It's a catch-all term for television series and films from Scandinavia that are beautifully filmed, bleak, and deal with humans and all their horrible faults. They are mainly thrillers and dramas that can be grimdark but also incredibly touching, exploring the good, the bad, and the really, really ugly aspects of humanity. They've become really popular over the years, with remakes made in the US - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the Killing and the Bridge are the most recent ones that I remember. So far I've watched: Borgen - my gateway drug. This is a political drama/thriller about a Danish female politician who manages to get elected as the first woman prime minister in Denmark. Partly based on real events, the series (3 seasons) show her time as prime minister, and how she slowly loses her ideals and becomes more and more pragmatic over the years, sliding away from the progressive bases of her party, as well as having to deal with also being a mother of two children and balancing her family life and her political career. This series is SO GOOD - on the one hand it gives you a good insight into how politics actually works on a day to day basis, (well, mostly for how it works for us Nordics, but I think other forms of representative democracies will also enjoy this) and on the other the characters are so engaging and the actors are fantastic in portraying them. Bron|Broen (Bridge) - so far 2 seasons are out, with a third one in the making. Police thriller that starts with the find of a body on the bridge connecting Denmark with Sweden. It's a corpse that's cut up into two, with one half belonging to a Danish victim, and the other to a Swedish victim. The two police teams from Copenhagen and Malmö have to cooperate together to solve this case. The lead detective on the Danish side is a very friendly looking man with a tainted record, a nice family, and violence/commitment issues, and the lead detective on the Swedish side is most likely an autistic lady who has to cope with people not understanding her at all and their hostility towards her. They get along really well in spite of a lot of things, and the series takes the time to explore their personalities as well as the personalities of the people that get involved in the case (there are some suspects that could've walked out of a greek tragedy) Every damn episode finishes on a bloody cliffhanger that really makes you want more. Second season closed with a promise for a third one, so I bloody well hope it goes through. Also the opening theme is beautiful and haunting. Forbrydelsen (The Killing) - I haven't watched all seasons yet, I think I've gotten as far as beginning third season. This series follows Sarah Lund, female investigator who gets involved with really complicated and horrific cases, that make you think there's much more hidden behind them than what Sarah can rake out with great difficulty. The detective is played so well, and she's very sympathetic without having to be charming or even pretty for that matter. Her face is drawn, marked by her profession and the things she's seen. It is so beautifully shot, it makes you want to kiss the cinematographer. This has also been remade into a US series, and I've been told the 1st season is really faithful and well done, but that the second season goes its own way, and people are divided on that. (so I've heard, haven't watched it myself) Arvingerne (The Legacy) - Family Drama where everything that can possibly go wrong goes wrong. I'm surprised nobody's been murdered yet! So far I've heard there are two seasons, with the second season currently still going on, and the first has already come out on DVD. The series revolves around the death of a high profile artist, who has made a lot of fame and whose works have become worth a lot, but who is also the mother of an incredibly dysfunctional family. She was not a good parent, and her children have distanced themselves from her, only to be brought back roughly together (including a daughter who didn't even know she was part of this family - having been given up for adoption) with her passing. As you can guess, this series is mainly an inheritance drama, because people are at their ugliest when it comes to badly planned inheritances. It is really good, and makes characters who would normally be seen as unsympathetic extremely sympathetic, and vice versa. Everybody has their own agenda, and everybody has their own feelings and emotions getting in the way of their agendas and their goals. It is really powerful and fascinating to watch. So far I'm on the 6th episode! So now what about you? Have any of you watched any of these? Have you seen the American versions? (how are the American versions by the way?) What are your thoughts on Scandinavian Noir? Which ones are you following now? You can be as analytical as you want! Or you can just fangasm over them here like I just did. :) For the ones who haven't seen any Scandinavian noir, hopefully I'll also have whet some of your appetites with this!
